1. Understanding Wildfires as Pollution in Northern Saskatchewan
Alexander R. D. Zahara1 1. PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, Memorial University,
As geographers in a variety of sub-disciplines (e.g. Political Ecology, Science and Technology Studies) have showcased, 'natural' environments are co- produced by human and nonhuman socialities and culture. In the Boreal Forest of Northern Saskatchewan, forests are produced through scientific ‘best practices’, industrial capitalist activities, and colonial systems of value and rule (of people, of nature, of things). Wildfire management is one of many ways in forest landscapes are produced, and through which understandings about nature, family, land, community health and wellbeing become embedded, along with fire regimes, into the landscape.
It focusses on discourses of wildfire management, historically and in the present, including how
Introduction and Background:
Over the last several decades, wildfire management in Northern Saskatchewan (SK) has become an increasingly important and controversial issue. Due to climate change and wildfire management practices, the severity of wildfires occurring in Boreal Forest regions have increased substantially across the province (Figure 1). In Northern SK, wildfires directly impact the lives of the region’s primarily Indigenous (Dene, Métis, Rocky Cree, Swampy Cree, and Woodland Cree) residents, whose communities are often not connected to other parts of the province by roads and lack adequate infrastructure to address large-scale forest fires. In 2015 alone, over residents were evacuated to larger Southern SK urban centres due to the presence of wildfires.
Research Aims
While new wildfire policies may reflect best available scientific knowledge, many Northern SK communities have begun lobbying the Province to take local interests and concerns about wildfires into account (e.g. practices and frequency of evacuation; issues of local firefighter licensing). Communities have framed wildfire controversies not as an issue of Western versus traditional knowledge, but one of different understandings of health and wellbeing, community, and self-determination
My research proposes a critical, field-based examination of the co-production of Boreal forest landscapes in Northern SK. It aims to understand wildfire management and science in a context of ongoing settler colonialism and settler/Indigenous relations
Historical Wildfires (> 100 Ha) in Northern SK
As geographers in a variety of sub-disciplines (e.g. Political Ecology, Science and Technology Studies) have showcased, 'natural' environments are co-produced by human and nonhuman interactions and culture—factors that have contributed to inequalities regarding how ‘nature’ is managed and for whom. Wildfire management is one of many ways in which forest landscapes are produced, and through which understandings about nature, family, land, community health and wellbeing become embedded into the landscape producing particular historical geographies (Figure 2). Over the last half a century, scientific knowledge about forest management has shifted from one favouring wildfire suppression to one that views wildfires as a ‘natural’ component of Boreal Forest ecosystems.
La Ronge
Figure 1: Wildfire trends in Northern SK since Data from Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc., 2017
Research Questions:
How are particular ‘constructions of nature’ (e.g. forests, fire, health, land, community) embedded within forest and wildfire management practices?
How have these understandings changed over time? To what effects?
In what ways do these understandings contribute to colonial dispossession? How are they re-worked by Northern SK communities and residents?
Roads
Methods:
This research will take a qualitative mixed- methods approach to examining the history and culture of wildfire management in Northern SK. Methods include, archival research and analysis of relevant government documents (e.g. management reports, scientific papers, Hansards from the legislative assembly); semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including government officials, wildfire managers, scientists, Indigenous and non-Indigenous firefighters; and participant observation at sites of wildfire governance (e.g. wildfire training schools, Red Cross, burn sites).
Water Bodies
1940s
1950s
1960s
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2016-
Provincial Park
National Park
Figure 2: Map of Northern SK Wildfires,
Source: Government of SK, Wildfire Management Branch, 2016.
In Saskatchewan, changes in wildfire management have informed a shift to what local residents refer to as a ‘‘Let it Burn’ policy, where forest fires are allowed to burn as a way of reducing fuel stores. This has led to increased numbers of community evacuations (Figure 3), as well as the implementation of technologies and policies that prevent wildfires from being managed by local fire experts. Evacuations increasingly take place, not due to proximity of a wildfire, but because levels of smoke exposure exceed public health standards for smoke pollution.
Significance:
To date, research examining wildfire controversies has almost exclusively focused on the impacts of wildfires on Northern SK residents. Little, if any, research has examined wildfire management practices themselves. By ’studying up’, this project aims to better understand practices of wildfire management and science in the context of community concerns, in order to make recommendations towards more equitable wildfire governance
Figure 3: Downtown Prince Albert, SK., during an evacuation event. Source: T. Zahara, 2015.